Medicine: How to Fake Heart Disease

One of the great medical
frauds of recent years was the faking of heart disease to hornswoggle
insurance companies. The story of this fraud was definitively told last
week in the Annals of Internal Medicine by Dr. O. F. Hedley of the U.S.
Public Health Service. The swindle reached its climax in 1937, involved
a gang of some 240 people (including at least 25 doctors). Hundreds of
thousands of dollars in disability claims were paid out, by more than
40 insurance companies.

The fraud, centering in New York City, was largely promoted by two
shyster law firms. The lawyers' "runners" sought out...